BELVIDERE - Illinois municipalities are having trouble keeping track of businesses that have received video-gaming machine licenses from the state.

Belvidere city officials said they were in the dark last fall until monthly reports from the Illinois Gaming Board revealed that local businesses had live video-gaming terminals. Reports show that the number of businesses jumped from two in September to eight in January.

That's when community leaders determined some of the stores operating these machines had not obtained the necessary local permits or paid the required local fees for terminals.

The Illinois Gaming Board isn't responsible for notifying local governments immediately once a license has been issued.

He said he had not been aware that a single video-gaming machine had been turned on until his office received its local share of September revenue from the video-gaming machines - totaling $61.35.

Earlier this month, Chamberlain instructed City Attorney Michael Drella to notify a half-dozen business owners that they had failed to obtain the indoor commercial entertainment special-use permit required to operate video-gaming machines. The permits cost upward of $700 apiece. The store owners were given 10 days to obtain the permits or remove the machines.

Belvidere isn't the only municipality that has been affected by this method of communication. Illinois Video Gaming Board spokesman Gene O'Shea said that he had heard reports of similar communication lapses in the Chicago suburbs.

He said that the Illinois Gaming Board inspects potential video-gaming locations to verify that the owner has a liquor license. It reaches out to authorities to learn if the applicant has had trouble with the law.

"(It's) not the gaming board's responsibility to notify the local municipalities, especially if they are putting their own ordinances requiring that owners of such licenses get a surcharge or some kind of tax," O'Shea said.

This miscommunication isn't just frustrating state and municipal leaders, though. Business owners are getting caught in the middle.

Francisco Figueroa, owner of Quinta Carmina Mexican Restaurant and Cuisine in Belvidere, said he had obtained a liquor license from the city before installing three video-gaming machines. He figured revenue from the devices could help pay the rent.

But the letter from Drella caused him to have a change of heart.

Figueroa said that he could not afford the fees and removed the machines days later. He said city leaders should have told him that he was responsible for obtaining the permit and paying fees.

"(Officials) should have told me in the beginning how much you're going to pay," he said.